More than 50 drown as migrant boat sinks in Aegean

Greek and Turkish coastguards were tonight searching the Aegean sea for the survivors from a boat carrying up to 100 illegal migrants, at least half of whom are believed to have drowned in a perilous crossing from Turkey to the EU.

The dramatic rescue operation came as Turkish officials announced that at least 53 migrants from Palestine, Somalia and Iraq had died when the overladen vessel, thought to be carrying up to 100 people, capsized off the country's Aegean coast late on Saturday night.

Although the Turkish coastguard estimated some 85 had been on board, officials on the Greek island of Chios said they believed as many as 100 had been crammed into the vessel.

The death toll was expected to rise. It was the biggest loss of life in the Aegean since smugglers, attempting to outwit increased patrols in the western Mediterranean, began using the route to ferry would-be emigres into Europe.

"I cannot remember so many casualties in one single incident," Metin Corabatir at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told the Guardian from Ankara. "The bodies of two women have been found but many are still missing and there is a good chance that children will be among them, too."

With the waters whipped up by gale force winds, only six men had managed to swim to shore by yesterday, staying afloat with the aid of inflatable inner tubes.

The bodies of the dead had washed up on the shores within hours of the 15-metre boat sinking off the coast of Seferihisar, south of the city of Izmir. Turkish television channels showed body bags being lined up along a local dock. Despite gale force winds hampering rescue efforts, helicopters and boats rushed to the scene.

"We are trying to keep our hopes alive but the possibility of more survivors is diminishing," Orhan Sefik Guldibi, a local governor in Izmir province told the state-run Anatolia news agency. "Boats and helicopters are searching for more migrants in the sea," he said, adding that while it appeared the migrants had drowned, autopsies would be conducted.

By this evening, Greek coastguard officials had also joined the effort, searching the waters off Chios, where the boat is thought to have been headed.

The survivors, who included two Palestinians, shouted for help when they reached the land and were taken to hospital and treated for shock. Later, they described how they had embarked on the journey in the dead of night, ignoring the bad weather as they set off from Turkey, in the hope of finding a new life in Europe.

Turkey has become a major hub for illegal migration from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with thousands fleeing poverty and conflict heading to the smuggler strongholds along its Aegean coast once they arrive in the country.

Migration experts say the illegal flow into Greece - a border EU state with one of its longest coastlines -- has tripled since the year began. In recent months, far-flung Greek islands such as Samos, Chios and Mytiline have been overwhelmed by the influx.

Although ties between Nato rivals Greece and Turkey have generally improved dramatically, the appearance of so many clandestine migrants threatens to increase tensions with Athens angrily accusing Ankara of not doing enough to stop the flow. Most of the boat people head to central Europe and Britain if they succeed in reaching Greece.

"This is a global problem with very deep roots that has to be addressed in the countries of origin through improving democracy, human rights and local economies," added Metin Corabatir at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey.